Smoking has been used to prepare various types of meat to enhance flavor and for its preservative benefits. Smoking methods have involved exposing the given meat item to smoke, and often heat, for a period of time. The smoke used to cook, flavor and/or preserve meat is often generated by burning wood (e.g., hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, and maple) or charcoal.
Smoking methods have been performed outdoors, within naturally occurring structures, as well as within various types of man-made smokers. Examples of smokers range from enclosures the size of buildings (commonly referred to as a smokehouse) to relatively small containers constructed from various materials including metal, ceramics, and clay.
For efficiency and effectiveness, it would be desirable to expose as much of the surface area of the given meat to smoke. For items such as poultry, for example, this would include both the exterior and interior surfaces. Potential benefits from exposing both the exterior and the interior surfaces of the given meat item to smoke during the smoking process include increased rate of smoke penetration, more intense smoke flavor, as well as added preservative benefits with respect to the interior surfaces of the given meat item.
The present invention addresses this need and other concerns.